Apparatus for cutting to size photographic pictures



May 7, 1963 R. STYNER APPARATUS FOR CUTTING TO SIZE PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES Filed Sept. 4, 1959 FIG.1

2 Sheets-Sheet l 1s 1s '17 2o 24 2s 24 I I I I A's E [15 6 7 9 8f 9' 4 I m Mm "g4", r I x I J H l 1 1 1 l '1 3 '15 4 6 2G 5 INVENTOR BY RUDOLF STYNER ATTORN EYS y 7, 1963 R. STYNER 3,088,357

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING TO SIZE PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES Filed Sept. 4, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR BY RUDQLF STYNER 9L 4 & 3 MSRNEYS United States Patent Ofifice APPARATUS FOR CUTTING T SIZE PHQTO- GRAPHIC PICTURES Rudolf Styner, Oberbottigen, Switzeriann, assignor to Styner & Bienz A.G., Burnpliz, Switzerland Filed ept. 4, 1959, Ser. No. 838,211

Claims priority, application Switzerland Sept. 8, 1958 9 Claims. (Cl. 83-247) This invention relates to an apparatus for cutting to size photographic pictures, particularly for cutting pictures from films, of the type having means for trans-illuminating the film or picture and a cutting device having a stationary and a displaceable knife.

Devices of this kind are known serving for cutting to size and to right angles particular pictures from photographic films comprising a number of pictures. Such known devices have a guideway through which a film or a single picture may be advanced over a stationary knife and may be cut by means of a displaceable counter knife. Transilluminating windows are provided on each side of the knives allowing to observe the position of the picture to be cut to size and reference marks are provided on a transilluminatiug window arranged below the guideway allowing precise adjustment of the film to a position suitable for cutting a picture of standardized size. However, the size of the picture to be cut often does not exactly correspond to the standardized size so that the picture is cut oif in the wrong place when relying only on the said reference marks. Therefore, it would be desirable to observe not only the picture in the neighborhood of the said reference marks but also at the actual cutting place, the said marks being spaced from the cutting place by at least one picture height. But such an observation of the cutting place of the film or picture is quite impossible with the known cutting apparatus because the boundary line between adjacent pictures is not transilluminated due to the knives. This is a particular drawback whenever individual pictures are to be cut to non-standardized size by cutting off undesired rim portions thereof. In this case it is desirable to freely observe the picture portions adjacent each side of the cutting place, but such a free observation is impossible with known cutting devices.

It is a particular object of this invention to remove these disadvantages of known picture-cutting apparatus by providing at least in the said stationary knife 21 place narrow as seen in projection in the transillumination direction, and illuminating windows being provided on each side as seen in the feeding direction of the film or picture of the said narrow place of the knife. When observing the transilluminated film the said narrow place will apear as a thin sharp mark between fully transilluminated picture portions allowing accurate determination of the line along which the picture will be cut.

Further objects of this invention will be apparent from the following description and from the attached drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of this invention is shown by way of example.

FIG. 1 is a top view of the apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the apparatus with portions cut away.

FIG. 3 is a section along line III-J11 in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is an end view of the apparatus partially in section,

1G. 5 is a section along line V-V in FIG. 1 and FIG. 6 is a partial section along line Vl-VI in FIG. 2.

The apparatus has a casing 1 comprising an elongated illuminating bulb 2 for transilluminating the film. Windows 3 and 4 are cut out in the cover portion of the casing 1 and a ground-glass plate 5 is inserted into the window 4. Above the window 3 a substantially rectangular frame 6 is screw-fixed on the cover portion of casing ?atented May 7, 1963 1, this frame or superstructure 6 having windows 7 and 8. A ground-glass plate 9 having a bearing portion 10 at its right end as seen in FIG. 3 is inserted into window 7. Two guide plates 11 having a profile substantially as shown in FIG. 5 are fixed on the frame 6 by means of pins 13, so that a film 12 indicated in FIG. 5 may be slid between the frame 6 and the inner rims of plates 11, the so inserted film being properly guided between the fixing pins 13. Tooth-shaped reference marks 14 are provided at the inner edges of plates 11, such marks indicating the correct position of the film in its feeding direction in a manner explained later on. In the bearing portion 10 of the ground-glass plate 9 a shaft 15 having two rubber rollers 16 is rotatably mounted, the rollers 16 cooperating with similar rubber rollers 16 mounted on an upper shaft 17. Shaft 17 is rotatably mounted by means of bent lugs 18 of plates 11 and the pressure exerted between contacting rubber rollers 16 may be adjusted to a desired value by bending lugs 18 downwardly more or less. A fiat stationary knife 19 and a plate 20 are screw-fixed to the end of frame 6 shown on the right in FIG. 3. A circular opening 21 is provided in the middle of knife 19 and above the window it of the frame 6, this opening leaving only a very narrow web 22 at the fore edge of the knife. Above the opening 21 plate 20 has a cut-out 23. As particularly seen in FIG. 3, a passage is formed by the window 8, opening 21 of knife 19 and cut-out 23 of the mounting plate 29, through which passage a film inserted between knife 19 and plate 20 may be transilluminated in vertical direction by light emitted by the bulb 2 and passing through the ground-glass plate 5. A displaceable knife 24 is associated with the stationary knife 19, knife 24 being pivoted on a pin 25 and urged against the cutting edge of a knife 19 by means of a spring 26.

The shaft 17 extends beyond the frame 6 and has at its projecting end an actuating knob 27 and :a driving pinion 28. Below the pinion 28 a toothed segment 29 projects through a slit of easing 1. The toothed segment 29 is pivoted by means of an oblong hole 30 on a pin 31 riveted into the casing 1, pin 31 being longitudinally displaceable in the hole 39. The segment 29 further has a slit 32 and a driving pin 33 engages this slit 32. An eX- tension of pin 33 projecting through a slit 34 of the casing 1 carries an actuating knob 35. The pin 33 is riveted on a lever 36 pivoted on pin 31. A stop pin 37 is riveted into the segment 29, this stop pin engaging the head of a rivet 38 when the segment 29 is in its rest position as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, thereby preventing rotation of the toothed segment 29 in counter-clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 2. A resetting spring 39 shown in FIG. 2 is attached to the lever 36, this spring tending to reset the lever 36 and the toothed segment 29 to the rest position and to maintain them in this rest position. This rest position is determined by engagement of the stop pin 37 against a lug 4t) stamped out of the casing wall. Bores 41 which may be threaded when desired, are provided in the casing wall for removably inserting a stop for the pin 37 of segment 29, for instance a stop screw, in one of the bores.

Operation of the described apparatus is as follows:

A film from which the pictures are to be cut to size is fed from the left in FIGS. 1 and 2 into the guideway formed by portions 6, 11 and 13 until the first boundary line between adjacent pictures reaches a position exactly symmetrical above the fore cutting edge of knife 19. This position of the film may be determined either by observation of the cutting place while the displaceable knife 24 is in its lifted position or by bringing the next boundary line between adjacent pic tures into alignment with a pair of opposite marks 14 associated to the particular picture height. In the so adjusted cutting position all essential portions of the pictures adjacent the cutting line are visible from above aosassv and are transilluminate'd from below. Particularly the rim portions of both pictures adjacent the cutting line are visible because the rear picture, that is the picture on the left of thecutting edge of knife 19 in FIGS. 1 or 3, is visible through cut-out 23 of plate 20 and is transilluminated through the ground-glass plate 5, window 8 and opening 21 of the stationary knife 19. If the picture is correctly adjusted it may be cut oif by lowering the knife 24. It is .a particular advantage that the casing has no openings below the displaceable knife 24 and therefore no fine strips cut off the picture for accurately adjusting its size will fall into the casing. This advantage is due to the location of the stationary knife 19 at the fore edge of the frame or superstructure 6 so that a front freely accessible from the right is formed on the apparatus, this front allowing free motion of the displaceable knife beyond the stationary knife 19 without necessitating openings in the cover portion of the casing.

When a picture has been cut off the film the knife 24 is lifted for allowing further advance of the film, it being possible to use the automatic feeding device for easy and fast advance of the film by one picture height by rotating the actuating knob 35 in counter-clockwise direction. During this operation the lever 36 with its pin 33 only is first displaced while the segment 23 is braked and maintained in its initial position by its pin 37 engaging the rivet head 38. Therefore, a relative rotation between the lever 36 and the segment 29 occurs whereby the pin 33 is displaced to the left in FIG. 2 in the slit 32 of segment 29 so that the segment 29 is lifted and is engaged with the driving pinion 28 before being able to follow the anticlockwise rotation of lever 36. When engagement between the pinion 28 and segment 29 is completed, pin 33' abuts against the end of slit 32 so that no further relative displacement in the same direction between parts 36 and Z9 is possible, and pin 37 is now slid over the braking rivet 38, whereby the segment 29 is axially displaced against the pressure of a spring 42. The segment 29 is now displaced in anticlockwise direction until its pin 37 engages the stop inserted into one of the bores 41, thereby limiting the displacement of lever 36. The actuating knob 35 is now released and spring 39.returns the lever 36 towards its initial position. Thereby the pin 33 first moves back through slit 32 to the right end thereof and disengages the toothed segment 29 from the pinion 28. Subsequently the segment 29 is also returned to its rest position whereby a slight axial displacement of the segment will allow its pin 37 to slide back over the rivet 3-8. The anticlockwise displacement of segment 29 has been transmitted through pinion 28 to shaft and rollers 16 mounted thereon whereby the film has been advanced by a distance corresponding to a desired standardized picture height and adjusted by proper positioning of the stop means in one of the bores 41. However this automatic feeding device is only a help for rapidly advancing the film by approximately the desired distance, but it is Well known that rubber rollers never feed the film without any slip. Therefore, it is a particular advantage of this invention to allow ready observation of the position of the boundary line between pictures relatively to the cutting edge of the stationary knife 19. Any adjustment of the picture position after feeding of the film may be effected by slight rotation of the actuating knob 27 whereafter the picture may be cut off by towering the knife 24.

The described apparatus is particularly advantageous for cutting individual pictures to a non-standardized desired shape in which case it is not possible to operate the apparatus by means of the automatic feeding mechanism and to rely on the reference marks 14, but the rim of the picture to be cut must be observed and the picture must be adjusted by means of the hand operating knob 27 to the position for which the desired'cutting line covers with the cutting edge of knife 19. The picture to be cut in this way is shifted into the guideway from the left and is properly adjusted by knob 27. When the knife 24 is lifted the cutting place and the rims of the pictures adjacent this cutting place may properly be observed, the shade produced by the narrow web 22 :being no serious handicap. Fine strips cut oif the picture rims Will fall onto the completely closed cover portion of the apparatus and may easily be removed therefrom.

As may particularly be seen in FIG. 3 the web 6' of the frame, situated below the narrow place or web 22 of the knife 19 may throw an irritating shade onto the picture. Therefore, this web 6 may completely be omitted as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 4 or this place of web 6' may be bent inwards as shown by a dotted line 6 in FIG. 1 so that the middle of the picture rim ap pears without any shades.

While one single narrow web 22 is shown in the embodiment, a number of such narrow webs may be provided in order to transilluminate and render visible fur ther portions of the picture situated on the left of the cutting edge of knife 19. Of course openings 21 and cuttings 23 would have to be provided where such a narrow place or web 22 isto be produced, for allowing proper illumination and observation.

While I have described and illustrated one embodiment of my invention, I do not wish to unnecessarily limit the scope thereof, but reserve the right to make such modifications and rearrangements of the several parts as may come within the purview of the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

l. A hand operable apparatus, for cutting photographs to size from a length of film, comprising means for transilluminating the film, a cutting device having a stationary knife extending transversely of the film and a cooperating displaceable knife movable to a retracted position, a' cutting edge on the said stationary knife, guiding means having two parallel guide elements for guiding said film in a direction perpendicular to said cutting edge, film feeding means closely adjacent said stationary knife and above said transilluminating means for advancing, retracting and fine adjustment of the film toward and away from said cutting edge, the said means for transilluminating the film having illuminating windows on each side of the said cutting edge in the said feeding direction of the film, and an aperture in said stationary knife reducing the width of the light opaque area of the knife and leaving a narrow portion between the cutting edge and said aperture, whereby illumination through the said windows and aperture permits observation of portions of photographs situated on opposite sides of the said cutting edge and the said narrow portion respectively when the displaceable knife is in its retracted position.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, the said stationary knife extending in horizontal direction and the said displaceable knife is swingable vertically from a substantially horizontal operating position to said retracted position, one of said windows extending forward of said cutting edgeby at least the size of one photograph as measured in said feeding direction, illumination and observation of a complete photograph fed beyond the said cutting edge being thus possible when the displaceable knife is lifted to its retracted position.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the said stationary knife is a flat blade arranged in a plane substantially parallel to said feeding direction of the film.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein a reference mark is provided on one of said guide elements at a distance from said cutting. edge corresponding to the dimension of a film photograph as measured in the feeding direction of the film.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said film feeding means includes a pair of feed rollers positioned in said guiding means and rotatably supported to engage and transport the film toward the said cutting edge.

6. A hand operable apparatus, for cutting photographs to size from a length of film, comprising a casing having side walls and a cover portion, a superstructure mounted on and occupying less than the whole area of said cover portion, a stationary knife having a cutting edge arranged on the said superstructure and extending transversely of the film, a cooperating displaceable knife movable to a retracted position, a guideway in said superstructure including two parallel guide elements for guiding said film in a direction perpendicular to said cutting edge, film feeding means closely adjacent said stationary knife for advancing, retracting and fine adjustment of the film toward and away from said cutting edge, an illuminating device within said casing, a first translucent Window in the said cover portion extending below the said stationary knife thereby allowing illumination of photograph portions on each side of the stationary knife, a second translucent window forming the bottom of said guideway, an aperture in said stationary knife reducing the width of the light opaque area of the knife and leaving a narrow portion between the cutting edge and said aperture, said superstructure, casing cover portion, first and second windows forming a closed, continuous covering to prevent strips cut otf the film from penetrating into the casing while permitting illumination of the film through said windows and aperture, whereby observation of illuminated portions of photographs situated on opposite sides of the said cutting edge and the said narrow portion respectively is possible when the displaceable knife is in its retracted position.

7. A hand-operable apparatus for cutting to size photographic pictures, particularly for cutting pictures from films, of the type described, comprising a guideway and a cutting device at one end of the guideway, means for transilluminating the picture or film on each side of the cutting device for observing picture portions on each side of the cutting device, feeding rollers pressed against each other in the said guideway and adapted to receive the film or picture between them, a hand-operable lever associated with adjustable stop means limiting the displacement of the said lever when operated and gear means adapted to selectively interconnect the said lever and the said feeding rollers, means for coupling said gear means during the forward stroke of said lever by relative radial displacement of said gear means and for completely disengaging said gear means during the return stroke of said lever, the feeding rollers being rotatable by a predetermined amount corresponding to the said displacement of the said lever through the said gear means during said forward stroke, and a hand knob operably associated with the said feeding rollers for operating the feeding rollers in forward and backward direction independently of the said hand-operable lever and gear means respectively, a coarse adjustment of the picture or film being obtained by operation of the said hand-operable lever and a fine adjustment of the picture or film being obtained by operation of the said handknob.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7, comprising a driving pinion connected to the said feeding rollers, a toothed segment operable by the said hand-operable lever, disengageable braking means for the said toothed segment braking the displacement of the toothed segment from a rest position thereof, lost-motion coupling means between the said lever and the said toothed segment for transmitting the rotation of the actuating lever to the toothed segment, and means for radially displacing the said toothed segment upon operation of the handoperable lever and relative angular displacement between the actuating lever and the toothed segment due to the said lost-motion coupling for engaging the toothed segment with the said pinion, the said toothed segment and pinion being disengaged during the return stroke of the said lever due to reverse lost motion between the said lever and said toothed segment.

9. An apparatus according to claim 8, the said lever having a driving pin engaging an inclined slit of the said toothed segment and adapted for displacement along the said slit.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 48,650 Brombacher July 11, 1865 1,622,053 Rounds Mar. 22, 1927 2,112,413 Aeschbach Mar. 29, 1938 2,189,059 Dearsley Feb. 6, 1940 2,190,315 Grunwald Feb. 13, 1940 2,313,860 Bogue Mar. 16, 1943 2,365,605 Sutter Dec. 19, 1944 2,406,418 Walters Aug. 27, 1946 2,501,334 Hubehneyer Mar. 21, 1950 2,519,701 Richardson Aug. 22, 1950 2,613,744 Hillrner Oct. 14, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,060,536 France Nov. 18, 1953 

7. A HAND-OPERABLE APPARATUS FOR CUTTING TO SIZE PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES, PARTICULARLY FOR CUTTING PICTURES FROM FILMS, OF THE TYPE DESCRIBED, COMPRISING A GUIDEWAY AND A CUTTING DEVICE AT ONE END OF THE GUIDEWAY, MEANS FOR TRANSILLUMINATING THE PICTURE OR FILM ON EACH SIDE OF THE CUTTING DEVICE FOR OBSERVING PICTURE PORTIONS ON EACH SIDE OF THE CUTTING DEVICE, FEEDING ROLLERS PRESSED AGAINST EACH OTHER IN THE SAID GUIDEWAY AND ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THE FILM OR PICTURE BETWEEN THEM, A HAND-OPERABLE LEVER ASSOCIATED WITH ADJUSTABLE STOP MEANS LIMITING THE DISPLACEMENT OF THE SAID LEVER WHEN OPERATED AND GEAR MEANS ADAPTED TO SELECTIVELY INTERCONNECT THE SAID LEVER AND THE SAID FEEDING ROLLERS, MEANS FOR COUPLING SAID GEAR MEANS DURING THE FORWARD STROKE OF SAID LEVER BY RELATIVE RADIAL DISPLACEMENT OF SAID GEAR MEANS AND FOR COMPLETELY DISENGAGING SAID GEAR MEANS DURING THE RETURN STROKE OF SAID LEVER, THE FEEDING ROLLERS BEING ROTATABLE BY A PREDETERMINED AMOUNT CORRESPONDING TO THE SAID DISPLACEMENT OF THE SAID LEVER THROUGH THE SAID GEAR MEANS DURING SAID FORWARD STROKE, AND A HAND KNOB OPERABLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE SAID FEEDING ROLLERS FOR OPERATING THE FEEDING ROLLERS IN FORWARD AND BACKWARD DIRECTION INDEPENDENTLY OF THE SAID HAND-OPERABLE LEVER AND GEAR MEANS RESPECTIVELY, A COARSE ADJUSTMENT OF THE PICTURE OR FILM BEING OBTAINED BY OPERATION OF THE SAID HAND-OPERABLE LEVER AND A FINE ADJUSTMENT OF THE PICTURE OR FILM BEING OBTAINED BY OPERATION OF THE SAID HANDKNOB. 